How to Write Effective Flashback Scenes

Photo by Dillon Shook on Unsplash

Flashback scenes are some of the most difficult to write.

Effective flashbacks relay vital backstory that cuts straight to the emotional core of a narrative. They exist because they must, because there’s no better way to reveal the essential context on which the story hinges. But like the infamous prologue, flashback scenes are all too easy to get wrong. 

An ineffective flashback lacks purpose and necessity. It bores readers, jarring them out of the story, making them wish the author would just get on with it. Excessively lengthy and frequent flashbacks may even make readers set a book aside.

How can you ensure your story’s flashbacks don’t make readers’ eyes glaze over? Let’s break down how you can craft these tricky contextual scenes with confidence, clarity, and success.

First, why are effective flashbacks so difficult to write?

Effective stories immerse readers, encouraging them to fly through the pages to discover what will happen next. Any element that disrupts the flow of a narrative risks pulling readers out of the story, and that’s exactly what makes flashback scenes so dangerous.

A flashback isn’t merely a moment in which your point-of-view character considers the past; it’s an entire scene set in the past that disrupts a story’s chronological flow.

If a flashback provides answers to questions readers are desperate to know, then they’re unlikely to be fazed by the disruption. But forcing readers to endure an unnecessary break in the flow of a story is the literary equivalent of setting out on a road trip only to get stuck in hours-long traffic. Sure, you might eventually finish the journey, but it won’t have been near as fun.

How can you write an effective flashback scene?

Like any scene in your story, flashbacks must serve a definitive purpose, preferably one that strikes at your story’s emotional core (i.e. your main characters’ internal journeys).

What really happened on that fateful day? What caused the rift between the former lovers? How did the antagonist become so cruel?

An effective flashback reveals essential information that could not be relayed in any better way. If you could just as easily work this context into your story via dialogue, inner dialogue, or narrative, then consider doing so to maintain your story’s immersive flow.

However, if you’re certain that a flashback is the best way to reveal essential backstory, then here are six tips for crafting a flashback that will keep readers immersed and engaged. (Note: These tips apply to individual flashback scenes, not to secondary storylines set in the past.)

#1: Give readers a reason to care

Immersive stories give readers a reason to care, to have an emotional stake in your main character’s journeys. A story’s flashbacks need to do the same.

No matter how interesting a past event might seem, if it doesn’t directly impact your main characters’ lives (specifically, their internal worlds; their fears, flaws, motivations, limiting beliefs…), then readers simply aren’t likely to care.

#2: Make it engaging

Despite taking place in the past, effective flashbacks feel immediate. They often tie directly into the POV character’s journey via triggers (i.e. situations in the present story that encourage the POV character to “slip” into the past). The resulting flashback shows that the memory still haunts your character.

You can maintain the flow of your narrative by using a second trigger to draw your POV character out of the flashback. For example:

• Your character may dream about the death of a loved one only to be woken by their alarm clock.

• The smell of peppermint tea may remind your character of the day they were married, only for the sound of the doorbell to draw them back to the reality of their new widowhood.

• An old song may trigger memories of childhood abuse, while a friend’s touch draws your character back to the present.

When writing flashbacks, avoid language that feels too on-the-nose. Phrases like I flashed back to, I thought about the day that, and I remembered when can feel contrived. Instead, practice using triggers to transition seamlessly between the present and the past. For example:

“I drummed my fingers against the steering wheel as the commercial on the radio wound to its abrasive end. 1-800-CALL-NOW it demanded, its parting words giving way at last to music. A familiar melody…

‘Don’t you dare walk away from me, Anna.’

I was sixteen, and I hadn’t spent the night at Cara’s house as my father had believed. His footsteps thundered on the stairs behind me. I slammed my bedroom door shut, turned the lock before he could follow.

He beat his fists upon the door, threatened to break it down. Break me with it. I placed the needle carefully. Cranked the dial on my record player until I slipped beneath the surface of the singer’s silky voice, cheeks wet even as they were now, seventeen years later.

The lock on the door gave way. The driver behind me laid on his horn.”

#3: Make it clear

To maintain the flow of your story, readers need to know when they’re being eased in and out of a flashback. A lack of clarity can lead to confusion, while attempting to shock readers by concealing the reality of a flashback can leave them feeling cheated and patronized.

#4: Keep it brief

Effective flashbacks aren’t self-indulgent. They exist to serve the present story, and the sooner you can return readers to that story, the better.

#5: Make it distinct

To ensure readers don’t feel lost in the shuffle, consider writing your flashback in a different point-of-view, tense, or writing style to signal the important shift from present to past. Italics can also help illustrate this jump.

#6: Give it consequences

Effective flashbacks don’t just reveal vital backstory to readers; they serve as the ghosts that haunt your characters, impacting their actions and reactions throughout the story.

The deeper the impact a flashback has on a character in their present story, the more powerful and immersive the scene will be.

Effective flashbacks may be difficult to write, but they can also serve as powerful emotional touch-stones within your story. Use the tips above to guide you in developing flashbacks of your own, and you’ll soon craft immersive and impactful scenes readers won’t soon forget.